Review: Antonio Carlos Jobim on CTi

I’ve owned the A&M/CTi albums Wave and Tide for years, when I first discovered them from A&M’s Audio Master Plus reissue series.  A few years ago, I picked up Stone Flower, which was released on CTi after distribution moved over to Columbia.  Two of these three are favorites, and all three work well as a trilogy of sorts, allowing Jobim to spread out stylistically.

Wave was the first of the three releases.  Jobim had released albums in the past, but Wave was a new direction in that he was able to stretch out and explore more of the jazz side of his talent.  As many know, he was one of Brazil’s foremost composers, and already had a few albums under his belt before joining up with Creed Taylor again at A&M.  (They had worked together earlier on an album for Verve.)  While he does cover a few familiar songs on this album, there are many new ones:  “Captain Bacardi”, “Mojave” and “The Red Blouse” are classics here.   “Batidinha” and “Antigua” are two examples of the type of haunting melodies that Jobim is known for, and the latter features the master taking a turn on the harpischord.  A lot of memorable tunes, this one should be a staple of any jazz or Brazilian collection.

Tide was the follow-up on A&M, and quite frankly, it is much weaker.  The title track comes off as an overly-noodly rewrite of “Wave”, based on the same chord changes and in the same key.  There are a few standouts here, like “Tema Jazz”, which includes a burning flute solo by Hermeto Pascoal.  “The Girl from Ipanema” gets a decent rewrite as an instrumental.  But others seem like unfinished leftovers at times–tunes like “Remember” and “Rockanalia” just seem to meander.  One gets the feeling this was done as a contractual obligation for A&M, as this was the last A&M/CTi release and the album clocks in at under a half hour.  And it’s worthwhile to note that both this album and the one that follows were both recorded around the same time.  The album is a pleasant listen, but really does nothing outside of “Tema Jazz” to make it noteworthy.  As a CD release, it should have been tacked on as bonus tracks to Wave, in my opinion.  And the current CD is nothing to brag about, the only bonus tracks being “Tema Jazz” repeated ad-nauseum.

With Stone Flower, we get what should have been the follow-up to Wave.  Again, the lineup is similar, but now Jobim turns the tables a bit and the mood is darker, richer, where Wave seems more lighthearted in comparison.   “Tereza My Love” opens the album with velvety alto flutes and trombone against subtle chord changes.  This is followed by the playful “Children’s Games”, and the tone poem “Choro”.  The real meat is to follow.  “Brazil” is the one song on the album he didn’t compose, although he gives it a good seven-minute workout.  This is followed by the album’s tour-de-force title track, which Santana would soon cover as the centerpiece of his Caravanserai album.   Perhaps one of his pretties melodies is found in “Andorhina”, one of those that you can’t get out of your head.

If I had to pick an overall favorite, I’d give Stone Flower the slight edge over Wave.  Unfortunately, the leftovers of Tide give me little reason to give it a spin.   All three together, though, comprise a nice body of work featuring Jobim in a jazz alignment.